The Atlantic Philanthropies-University of Queensland Vietnamese Scholarship Program 2000-2006: Assessing the Impact

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An evaluation of a program that enabled young Vietnamese professionals and university academics to attend the University of Queensland in Australia found that participants returned home better able to contribute to the social and economic development of their country.

The evaluation investigated how the Vietnam Coursework Masters and Doctoral Development Scholarship Program, which ran from 2000 to 2006, changed the lives and careers of the participants, and the subsequent impacts on their organizations, communities and the nation. Atlantic funded the scholarships withUS$9 million.

Based on surveys of and interviews with program alumni, the evaluation found that without the scholarship support, participants would not have been able pursue advanced study abroad. As a result that opportunity, those who took part said they returned home better able to make more meaningful contributions to their communities and the country. Specifically, they reported that their work had significant influence on government policy and development projects in their local communities and nationally in the areas of health, education and the environment. Participants also said the program helped boost their self-confidence and advanced their career development.

To provide more insight into how the program affected the lives of program participants, the report contains profiles of the individual scholarship recipients. Commenting on the program’s impact on him and others who took part, one participant told evaluators, “Many of us are now in better positions to give back.”